The Black Tower
Rhoanna lay tangled in the sheets. She was as beautiful and fierce as any woman, and a life spent in the saddle had turned last night's passion into an athletic event. Falamar had always felt himself a more than adequate, some had said legendary, lover but Rhoanna was insatiable. Falamar slipped quietly from the bed in the fear that if she awoke she would not let him escape. He felt the sudden sympathy for the wild mustangs Rhoanna had ridden until they broke and surrendered to her will. Up on deck the sea air revived him and he streched and called for a report form Amergin, and a got tea from the deck hand. "No rum captain?" the deck hand asked. "My body aches enough this morning Rory, best to at least keep my mind sharp." Falamar answered, then turning to Amergin he said, "How close are to the Dead Lands?" "We will be upon them by midday. There are already reports that the Sheaim are readying for us, and our advance ship returned during the night crewed by skeletons. We had to sink it ourselves." Falamar's eye widened and he called down to Rory in the mess, "on second thought I'll take a bit of rum with that, on the side." Looking back at Amergin he asked, "Anything else?" "The Dead Lands appears much as our own except at its heart where it's as defiled as Hyborem's own lands. Tebryn has a spell around these lands that keeps anyone from enering without his approval. This spell is maintained by ritualists in the capital cities of his generals, Averax, Gosea and Malchavic. Until they are destroyed we won't be able to assault Tebryn directly." Rory placed the hot tea and rum at Falamar's side and asked, "Anything else captain?" "No, thank you Rory." Falamar quickly drank the rum before asking Amergin to continue. "There are reports that men who die within this region find their souls drawn to the black tower, where they are transformed into hellish versions of themselves, skeletons, wraiths, sect of flies, eidolons and such. I cannot imagine a worse fate for a man's soul, and for us it means that we will face any we lose in battle." "I'm going to need more rum!" Falamar yelled to Rory, who quickly scrambled to refill Falamar's goblet. "Anything else Amergin?" Falamar asked. "The living seem unable to heal here. Those injured in battle against the skeleton ships bleed as if their wounds were fresh. These lands are cursed, and it does not favor us." Falamar downed the second rum, "And what of the rum?" "We are well-stocked captain." "Lock away my enemy in an unassailable location, subject me to the threat of eternal damnation as some wretched bone pile, remove from me even the tiny gifts of health and healing, but leave the rum." "Aye captain." Amergin grinned, a rare sight on the first mate. "You had best rouse our guest and tell her everything you told me. We will need all the strength we have by midday." Victory There was a celebration that would make Perpentach himself jealous. When Tebryn died the black tower collapsed around him. Many wondered if he survived the attack until they noticed that the corruption of the land began to heal, as did the injured men. Everywhere men of various nations drank, sung and for the first time in months, relaxed. Falamar grabbed a bottle of rare Svartalfar wine and went to find Rhoanna. The war kept them both so busy that he hadn't seen her for weeks, and he found himself almost as excited to see her as he was to defeat the Sheaim. He found her in a small group of her captains along with a Hippus messenger that Falamar didn't recognize. Expecting cheers from the group of Falamar stopped when he noticed they spoke in hushed somber tones, even while the rest of the army celebrated around them. Even Rhoanna's dark eyes were swollen and red; she had been crying. But there were no tears now, only anger and determination. "Is everything alright?" Falamar asked. He set the wine down as it felt inappropriate to stand there dumbly holding it. The captains quited, they saluted Falamar bud didn't answer the question. Rhoanna gave Falamar a weary smile, she was happy to see him and felt somehow relieved to have him close despite the recent news. "Tasunke is the head of the Aroul-Hippi, the most powerful Hippus clan. He is, he was, as close to as we have to a king." She paused here. Falamar knew who Tasunke was, she had spoken frequently of him with both frustration and admiration. But even outside of Rhoanna's tales there weren't many in Erebus who hadn't heard of the mercenary king of the Hippus. "The Illians are rising in the north." Rhoanna continued, "and they had hired Tasunke to fight for them. When they were finished with him, they killed him and turned on the Aroul-Hippi. There are a fragile few that were able to escape the purge. Altheriol-ta-Mealthiel is gone, our people are slaughtered and the only armies that remain are those that fought here." Falamar sat down beside Rhoanna. The captains' faces were stern but it was obvious they had been arguing the next steps. Despite their great respect for Falamar, they considered this a Hippus matter and weren't willing to involve him unless Rhoanna did. But Falamar could guess the points of the argument, some of them wanted to seek revenge and attack the Illians and others wanted to withdrawl into lands that were safe and rebuild. "The fate of the Hippus and Lanun are intertwined. You have our strength and friendship if you desire it." "Even if we sail agains the Illians?" Rhoanna asked, "We have reports that their leader means to resurrect the god of winter and cast us into eternal winter. They prepare now for the ritual. Would you be so quick to jump from the fires of the Sheaim into the freezing winds of the Illians?" Falamar thought about it. He hadn't expected another war, and knew his men had more that earned their rest. They would be remembered for generations for what they had accomplished here. How could he ask them to exchange that for another desperate war? Rhoanna knew he would join her when she saw his crooked smile. "That depends," Falamar asked, "would we get to share a flagship again?" Strategy The easiest way to win this scenario is to found the Order, get Valin Phaneul and lots of crusaders. And then tech to Righteousness and get Sphener, who start with Medic 3 and can heal other units in his stack with the heal stack. Invading the southern Clan of Embers island is not neccessary. However, you need to ensure that there is copper on your starting island. If you were able to save the Lurchip in the previous scenario: The Momus, this helps a great deal, as golems are able to heal still, thus not needing a straight path into religion. Mass Pye Zombies are always a threat when on the mainland. So Stack O' Deaths are never a good idea in this scenario. If you have the time and/or interest, massed Arcane Barges (with Fire II mages if you want to go overboard) are extremely effective at softening up all of the Sheaim coastal cities, allowing for an easier invasion. Category:Scenarios